Pessimism
expressed about the outcome of production efforts from OPEC members and
weak quarterly results pushed oil prices lower in early Friday trading.

Members of the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries met Friday in Vienna to review the prospects of
coordinating on a production ceiling proposed last month that is
designed to correct a market favoring the supply side.

OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Sanusi
Barkindo said member states need to act as one in order to benefit not
only the partnership of producers, but the global economy.

Last month's production proposal was met with
calls for exemptions from major producers like Nigeria and Iraq. Iran
has offered support for the arrangement, but said it needed to defend
its market share. Russia, a non-OPEC member coordinating with Saudi
Arabia, has been fluid on where it stands on production levels.

Olivier Jakob, the managing director at Swiss
oil-market research group Petromatrix, said in an emailed report that
leaves bigger players like Saudi Arabia shouldering the burden. Whatever
is on the table already, he said, is not enough to bring OPEC to its
stated ceiling.

The price for Brent crude oil dropped 0.6 percent at the start of trading in New York to $50.15 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark price for crude oil, was down 0.8 percent to $49.30 per barrel.

With third-quarter earnings season underway,
some in the industry are expressing optimism that oil price stability
was a sign of recovery for the fourth quarter. Exxon Mobil Chairman and
CEO Rex Tillerson said, however, that after his company reported a decline that he was protecting long-term shareholder value, but acknowledged "the operating environment remains challenging."

Some support for a rebound in oil may come as
investors digest the latest figures on gross domestic product from the
United States. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported GDP increased
at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the third quarter, an improvement
over the 1.9 percent reported for the second quarter. Third quarter GDP
is still lower than the same period in 2013 and 2014, however.

On oil, the OPEC leader said that just talking
about production so far has brought stability back to the market, but
acknowledged it may be an uphill battle.